Some aspects
of this friendly were encouraging, others all too familiar. There were
frustrations with a bloke called Eriksen, as well as another failed
attempt to solve a midfield conundrum that has been troubling England
since a certain Swede was in charge.

If Fabio Capello saw this encounter
as an opportunity to unveil the blueprint for a brighter England
future, he will feel he was partially successful.

On target: Substitute Ashley Young scored the winning goal after 68 minutes

As well as a victory there were some
hopeful signs - fine individual performances from Theo Walcott, Darren
Bent, Scott Parker and Ashley Young, who scored the second-half winner
from the central attacking position Gerard Houllier has allocated for
him at Aston Villa.

This, however, was the night when
Capello promised something rather more significant, the emergence of a
player who would end the Italian's long struggle to replace the
chronically-injured Owen Hargreaves.

Is Jack Wilshere an international
footballer? Undoubtedly. Confident, composed and classy, he passed the
ball beautifully for the 45 minutes he was on the field and many more
caps are sure to come. He did not look the slightest bit fazed.

All smiles: Darren Bent and Glen Johnson celebrate with Young after the Villa man netted the second-half winner

But is he England's answer to Claude
Makelele? The one player who can provide the necessary protection when
England meet the very best teams in the latter stages of tournaments?
Not on this evidence.

On what was supposed to be
Wilshere's big night, another teenager, six weeks his junior, stole the
show. Christian Eriksen has already attracted the attention of
Liverpool with his performances for Ajax and the manner in which he
exposed England's defence showed why.

Playing in the hole behind Nicklas
Bendtner, he was exactly the kind of player a true holding midfielder
would have considered his responsibility.

Poacher: Bent scored England's equaliser shortly after Agger had opened the scoring for Denmark

Makelele would have tried to remove
the threat he posed, as would Hargreaves. Wilshere did not share that
instinct, preferring instead to leave him to the back four while he
injected some fluency, finesse and pace into England's attack.

He provided the quick passing Frank
Lampard had spoken of on the eve of this game, and added a bit of
Arsenal's style to England's football. The goal Bent scored to cancel
out a lead that had been established by Daniel Agger was the result of
a superb 10-pass move.

Capello is sure to focus on that
more than the negative aspects of Wilshere's contribution. Last night
he actually blamed the entire midfield for sitting too close to the
back four and allowing the Danes far too much space.

But he is sure to persist with Wilshere in this role, believing he has the ability and intelligence to adapt. In
fairness to Wilshere, considered more of a box-to-box midfielder by
Arsenal, he had been given only two training sessions to master what is
a special art, one that has proved beyond Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Agger-do: the Liverpool defender scored a well-executed header after just eight minutes in Copenhagen

Under the Parken Stadium roof in
heat closer to Qatar than Cardiff, the football was surprisingly open.
At times more like a training game than an international.

First blood should have gone to
England when Bent seized on a loose backpass and created a chance for
Wayne Rooney. Having won the ball and taken it around Thomas Sorensen
after seeing the Danish goalkeeper slide in on Bent, Rooney was then
not quite clinical enough with his shot and allowed it to be blocked on
the line.

It was a mistake that proved all the
more costly when Agger struck in the eighth minute, arriving between
John Terry and Michael Dawson to meet a cross from Eriksen with a super header.

England were quick to muster a
response. Within two minutes, Walcott had received a pass from Rooney
and muscled his way past Simon Poulsen before delivering a perfect
cross that was easy for Bent to convert from three yards.

Jack's our lad: Wilshere made his first start for England on Wednesday night

Walcott's delivery was all the more
impressive for the fact that, having been caught in the eye by Poulsen,
he was momentarily blinded.

Wilshere continued to excel in
possession, and he even made an important interception that halted a
Danish attack that had been ignited by the carelessness of Glen
Johnson.

His passing was poor at times, even
if he did make amends after the break by providing the final ball for
Young's winner. England impressed most going forward.

The future's bright: Christian Eriksen impressed for Denmark despite ending up on the losing side

James Milner, like Walcott lively
out wide, sent in a cross that only just eluded Bent, while Wilshere
sparked a move that almost ended with an opportunity for Aston Villa's
new striker.

Stopping Denmark was continuing to
prove a problem, though. The excellent Eriksen executed a delightful
one-two with Bendtner before driving a shot against Hart's left-hand
post.

Then a burst of speed from Dennis Rommedahl resulted in a shot
that forced the Manchester City keeper to make a desperate one-footed
save.

The response was a shot from Walcott
that Lampard diverted beyond Sorensen with a clever flick, only to see
assistant referee rightly lift a flag for off-side.

Half-time arrived soon afterwards
and with it the end of the night for Wilshere, Lampard and Rooney, with
Parker, Young and Gareth Barry on as their replacements.

With Parker and Barry providing
much-needed protection, Eriksen was less dangerous. He sparked a super
move that ended with another chance for Rommedahl but England were now
controlling their hosts in a manner that proved beyond them before the
interval.

It enabled Capello's side to attack
with more confidence and a surging 68th-minute run from Johnson ended
with Young accelerating into the area and guiding home a neat
right-foot shot.

Only when it came to passing on the
captain's armband did England look confused. Lampard had given it to
Cole but when he went off there was a pause that left Terry thinking it
might just come to him.

Cole, however, handed it to Leighton
Baines who was then told to give it to Gareth Barry. Embarrassing,
yes. But not exactly the issue of the night.